Jordi Hereu, Minister of Industry and Tourism, made Saudi Telecom’s (STC) investment in the Telefónica group conditional on the defence of the country’s strategic interests. The government representative thus avoided commenting on the deadlines for a possible authorisation from the executive so that the foreign group could increase from the current 4.9% to the 10% planned for almost a year. In the context of the 38th edition of the Digital Economy and Telecommunications Meetings, Hereu stressed that his department “will continue to work” on the subject after indicating that the Spanish economy “is an economy open to investment and at the same time compatible with the defence of the interests of economic sectors”. According to him, this behaviour “is part of a European doctrine” that also requires “preserving strategic autonomy”.
In the same briefing, Hereu updated the tourism data updated on July 31, where Spain received more than 53 million tourists, with an expenditure “which represents an injection of prosperity for the Spanish economy, representing more than 71,101 million euros.” The minister also set the deadline at “three or four months” to reach an agreement among the major countries on the future industrial law, a “major objective” of his ministry. In this case, it will be a “good law, based on a great social agreement with the economic, industrial and union sectors.” According to him, this initiative requires “a great political agreement,” because “it does not necessarily have to be the industrial law and the strategic autonomy of a government, but rather the industrial law of an entire country, which is the expression of a great state pact, so we will work for an agreement capable of promoting the reindustrialization of Spain within the framework of a European strategy.”
Regarding the Meeting organized by Ametic, the minister recalled that the event “marks the beginning of the political course and also in the economic and commercial world in a very clear way.” As he explained, the association of technology employers “represents one of the most important sectors in the country, with more than 3,000 companies where more than 350,000 people work and represents the digital industry, formerly More than 24% of our GDP comes from the digitalization of the economy“. Regarding the new calls for the Perte, Hereu stressed that this “September we promoted the second call for the Agri-Food Perte”, with an investment of 100 million euros to then establish loans of 200 million. “I believe that this “It is a magnificent Perte that we are now adapting to the reality of business so that more SMEs can join this modernization process.”
On the international level, Hereu celebrated the constitution of the new European Commission “European, with a European project that begins the journey with great strength and resilience”. In the Catalan field, the former mayor of Barcelona also showed his satisfaction with the new government of Catalonia, chaired by Salvador Illa, because “it represents the beginning of a new stage in a Catalonia committed to progress, coexistence and unity and service to Catalan societywhich is good for Catalonia and for Spain.”
To questions about the single financing pact, the minister expressed that it is a great objective” and then invited “Resuming the dialogue around the financing rules of each of the autonomous communitiesto be able to talk about a global financing model.” In this way, “many other autonomous communities can also establish, based on their aspirations, their ambition, to generate an improvement in their financing,” as he indicated. “Spain is not a zero-sum game, let’s say, but rather a model in which, through dialogue, we can bet on the advancement of self-government as a basis for equality in the provision of services throughout Spain.
